Gaia House

Gaia House Gaia House is a silent meditation retreat centre and charity offering the Buddha’s teachings.

A PATH FOR HERE AND NOW - listen to recordings on Dharma Seed from this recent retreat with Jaya Rudgard and Yuka Nakamu...
02/06/2026

A PATH FOR HERE AND NOW - listen to recordings on Dharma Seed from this recent retreat with Jaya Rudgard and Yuka Nakamura.

https://gaia.dharmaseed.org/retreats/6827

What inspires and motivates us to explore an intentional way of living — a path of practice (or ‘spiritual path’) — and how do we sustain it and keep it alive?

The Buddha offered a teaching called the Eightfold Path — a path of wise and compassionate living — as something to be lived and experienced by each of us directly for ourselves.

This retreat we explore through our reflections and meditation how within our personal and collective life situations these timeless teachings can offer a meaningful and caring way of living in the world.

Due to two last-minute cancellations, we now have space to come on a Dharma Service Retreat (previously named 'Work Retr...
05/03/2026

Due to two last-minute cancellations, we now have space to come on a Dharma Service Retreat (previously named 'Work Retreat') from this Sunday, 8 March, until the end of May. We welcome applications for two weeks or longer during this period, with the most urgent period to be covered being 8 March to 22 March.

Our Dharma Service retreats offer a unique opportunity to explore your relationship to work as practice, whilst helping to co-create a supportive environment for everyone who comes to Gaia House and keep our programme accessible to all.

Some key information about these Dharma service retreats:

🧘 Meditation experience required for a Dharma service retreat: to have an established meditation practice and retreat experience of at least two weeks’ teacher-led, Insight (Vipassana) or Zen meditation retreat in silence (either as two separate weeks or one continuous retreat of 14 days), not necessarily at Gaia House.

🪷 Support: There is a weekly group meeting with other Dharma Service retreatants, facilitated by our resident teacher, and you'll have a weekly one-to-one meeting with the teacher and access to our wonderful library of Dharma talks and books.

⌚️ Daily schedule: A Dharma Service retreat consists of five work hours and at least four meditation sessions per day. One day a week is set aside as a retreat day.

🛌🏿 Accommodation: You will have a single room in our Hermitage Wing for the duration of your retreat.

👩🏽‍🔧 Required skills: No specific skills required, but it's essential to be fit for a physically active role, which may involve some heavy lifting, bending and spending long hours on your feet. Happy to work independently and with a can-do attitude.

📅 Duration and start date: We are looking for applicants who can offer at least two weeks to one month, with three months being the maximum. The retreats could start as early as Sunday 8 March (with some flexibility to start later if someone can come at short notice next week).

📩How to apply for the Dharma Service Retreat: If you are interested in applying for the retrets in March/April or have any questions, please email Laura at [email protected].

To read more about Dharma Service Retreats and to apply click here:

https://gaiahouse.co.uk/retreats/work-retreats/

You are invited to join an all-night vigil organised by members of the sangha and held at Gaia House next Saturday, 24 J...
19/01/2026

You are invited to join an all-night vigil organised by members of the sangha and held at Gaia House next Saturday, 24 January. The vigil will also be livestreamed so you can join from home or with a group of people in your local sangha.

The vigil, part of a long tradition amongst the Gaia House sangha, will be dedicated to all beings on earth experiencing oppression, violence and extreme uncertainty at this time.

It will be fundraising for Médicines Sans Frontières, in support of their work in alleviating suffering and oppression in Palestine and Sudan.

The vigil will be held by Kirsten Kratz and Zohar Lavie and will include guided and silent stillness and movement practices, chanting, poetry readings and sangha sharing.

Arrival in person will be from 8.45 pm, to start the vigil at 9.45 pm and will end around 6 am.

For more information on how to join or donate, please click here

https://www.sotozen.uk/sangha-vigil-2026/

We’re thrilled to announce that our 2026 retreat calendar is now live and open for bookings for all of our residential r...
06/11/2025

We’re thrilled to announce that our 2026 retreat calendar is now live and open for bookings for all of our residential retreats and many of our online retreats and courses.

Whether you’re seeking renewal, a reset for your mind and body, or deepening your understanding of the Buddhist teachings, we hope you will find something of interest. As you can see there are many retreats and a few titled a Path...May you find support in your path and may our programme be of benefit for all beings🙏🏼🪷

📅 Dates & Details: see the links on our bio.




UNSHAKEABLE TENDERNESS was the title of a weekly online course led by Zohar Lavie in the summer. 'When we cultivate pea...
22/09/2025

UNSHAKEABLE TENDERNESS was the title of a weekly online course led by Zohar Lavie in the summer.

'When we cultivate peace, equanimity or freedom, we may tend to see it as gaining freedom from certain aspects of experience. On this course we will explore our capacity to develop freedom with; to meet different aspects of experience with tenderness, intimacy and a steadiness that is inclusive and vast in its capacity. Can we access peace and equanimity within the push and pull of conditioned existence, excluding nothing and yet transforming everything?'

Listen to the recordings from each week here:
https://gaia.dharmaseed.org/retreats/6474

After holding a fabulous family retreat last week, we are now resuming our regular retreat calendar. With Autumn days ar...
02/09/2025

After holding a fabulous family retreat last week, we are now resuming our regular retreat calendar. With Autumn days around the corner, it's a good time to start planning for the dark time of the year.

If you are looking to take some time for silence, insights and peaceful nourishment, do check our programme here.
https://gaiahouse.co.uk/programme/

We have plenty of online courses and retreats, and on the residential side, still spaces on retreats in December, including our very special New Year's Retreat (both residential and livestreamed online).

We have also opened for bookings the retreats in the first three months of 2026 and are welcoming applications for personal retreats and dharma service retreats in 2026.
https://gaiahouse.co.uk/retreats/personal-retreats/
https://gaiahouse.co.uk/retreats/work-retreats/

There are many options for you to choose how to engage with Buddhist practice and meditation, whether you are a beginner or an experienced returner, you are all welcome!

Listen to recordings from the fifth Rainbow Dharma Retreat for the LGBTQI+ Community which happened in July, led by Rive...
11/08/2025

Listen to recordings from the fifth Rainbow Dharma Retreat for the LGBTQI+ Community which happened in July, led by River Wolton and Bernat Font. https://gaia.dharmaseed.org/retreats/6465

This retreat offers an opportunity to connect with others in ways that affirm our identity as a community of shared intention and practice, allowing us to make greater peace with ourselves and our lives, and to grow our capacity for freedom. We aspire to co-create a space of acceptance, reflection and support in which to cultivate mindfulness, embodied kindness and wisdom through meditation.

This weekend, we are offering an online retreat on the theme of the three refuges, the three pillars that sustain our pr...
05/08/2025

This weekend, we are offering an online retreat on the theme of the three refuges, the three pillars that sustain our practice and protect us in times of need: Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

Laura Bridgman and River Wolton are leading this retreat from Friday, 8 to Sunday, 10 August. They explain a little about the meaning of the three refuges:

The Buddha — This doesn’t just refer to the historical Buddha, but to the potential for awareness and awakening in all of us.

The Dharma — This means the teachings and practices that help us understand suffering, its causes and how we can free ourselves from it.

The Sangha — This is the sense of affinity and belonging we find in a community of people who are also trying to live with awareness, understanding (or wisdom or discernment), and integrity.

In this retreat, we will have the chance to explore what these mean in our lived experience as we face the significant challenges of our times. Particularly, the potential of these three refuges to help us stay grounded, resourced, and connected in the midst of the complexities of the world, and the ways they provide a vessel of presence and wise response.

There is still time to join. You can read more and register by clicking on the link on the bio.


 

Address

West Ogwell
Newton Abbot
TQ126EW

Telephone

+441626333613

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